Your Anxiety Is Not Your Fault
By Dr. Evelina Sodt. PhD
The notion that anxiety is a self-inflicted sensitivity is one of the most frustrating fallacies that a person may face. Is it "all in your head?" Well, maybe but not in the way your idiot coworker is suggesting.
Anxiety could be inherited. The likelihood of having the disorder increases if a first or second-degree relative also had the condition. The genetic link is there. Studies also suggest that people with anxiety view the world in a fundamentally different way thanks to their brain plasticity, or its ability to change and reorganize its neural connections. This is not something an anxious person can control. The brain simply does not distinguish between threatening and non-threatening situations.
Phobias, and even fears of social interactions, may be occurring due to an overactive amygdala. This region of the brain is responsible for fear responses. In addition. a 2015 study found that people with social anxiety may be overproducing serotonin. This conclusion was reached by Uppsala University researchers, who studied brain scans of people with social phobias. The higher the serotonin levels, the more anxious people were in social situations.
The good news is that genetic expression is malleable. The elephant in the room is oxidative damage in the brain, which causes nervous system impairment. Oxidative stress is linked to depression and high anxiety levels. Your neurotransmitters can be controlled and expression can be mitigated. But how?
Medications will allow the brain to release feel-good, calming chemicals, but your body has to make them. You you don't have any to begin with, the medications will not work. The real medicine, the fuel, is nutrition, supplementation and toxin / stress mitigation. Sometimes, food sensitivity.
Deficiencies are huge. Read about those here.
References:
Andreas Frick, Fredrik Åhs, Jonas Engman, My Jonasson, Iman Alaie, Johannes Björkstrand, Örjan Frans, Vanda Faria, Clas Linnman, Lieuwe Appel, Kurt Wahlstedt, Mark Lubberink, Mats Fredrikson, Tomas Furmark. Serotonin Synthesis and Reuptake in Social Anxiety Disorder. JAMA Psychiatry, 2015; DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0125
Uppsala University. "Individuals with social phobia have too much serotonin -- not too little." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 June 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150617115327.htm>.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anxiety-perception-study_n_56d48e13e4b03260bf77a48e
Salim S1, Chugh G, Asghar M., Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA. [email protected] Inflammation in Anxiety; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22814704
The notion that anxiety is a self-inflicted sensitivity is one of the most frustrating fallacies that a person may face. Is it "all in your head?" Well, maybe but not in the way your idiot coworker is suggesting.
Anxiety could be inherited. The likelihood of having the disorder increases if a first or second-degree relative also had the condition. The genetic link is there. Studies also suggest that people with anxiety view the world in a fundamentally different way thanks to their brain plasticity, or its ability to change and reorganize its neural connections. This is not something an anxious person can control. The brain simply does not distinguish between threatening and non-threatening situations.
Phobias, and even fears of social interactions, may be occurring due to an overactive amygdala. This region of the brain is responsible for fear responses. In addition. a 2015 study found that people with social anxiety may be overproducing serotonin. This conclusion was reached by Uppsala University researchers, who studied brain scans of people with social phobias. The higher the serotonin levels, the more anxious people were in social situations.
The good news is that genetic expression is malleable. The elephant in the room is oxidative damage in the brain, which causes nervous system impairment. Oxidative stress is linked to depression and high anxiety levels. Your neurotransmitters can be controlled and expression can be mitigated. But how?
Medications will allow the brain to release feel-good, calming chemicals, but your body has to make them. You you don't have any to begin with, the medications will not work. The real medicine, the fuel, is nutrition, supplementation and toxin / stress mitigation. Sometimes, food sensitivity.
Deficiencies are huge. Read about those here.
References:
Andreas Frick, Fredrik Åhs, Jonas Engman, My Jonasson, Iman Alaie, Johannes Björkstrand, Örjan Frans, Vanda Faria, Clas Linnman, Lieuwe Appel, Kurt Wahlstedt, Mark Lubberink, Mats Fredrikson, Tomas Furmark. Serotonin Synthesis and Reuptake in Social Anxiety Disorder. JAMA Psychiatry, 2015; DOI: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2015.0125
Uppsala University. "Individuals with social phobia have too much serotonin -- not too little." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 17 June 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/06/150617115327.htm>.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anxiety-perception-study_n_56d48e13e4b03260bf77a48e
Salim S1, Chugh G, Asghar M., Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA. [email protected] Inflammation in Anxiety; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22814704